Yes, your brain control’s your experience. Your mind has little chance of possession when a trillion neurons provide the experience. Those subconscious alerts for tasks at hand, is the authentic regulator of your actions.

These actions will determine the quality and richness of your day. Sitting in the safe zone surrounded by familiar walls and citizens, your conscious experience provides a tranquil environment but limited in its sequel. Thoughts move through a maze at lighting speed, some to the forefront of our existence.

Evolution and our brains drive for the stress free choices isolating us from the rich experiences of new surroundings and yes, interaction with our fellow humans. Living in the suburbs or acreage compounds, framing our daily-regulated routine does not populate the waiting canvas for later reflection.

Friend’s call or our mind alerts us to our sanitized routine complaining of monotony. The trillion neurons kick in to determine the labor and risks. Depending on memory and past occurrences the control center has already surfaced with “no” and sometimes “yes” before it is brought to the committee. Don’t be a “scarty cat”. Random life is rich with decision pressures and undetermined outcomes. Never a dull moment.

Maybe in that moment we override the transitory thought to reconsider. Which friend? What gathering? How far? Most important is the attribute of outcome.

If we were to dare to override the initial decision, there is no probability of outcome of quality. However, the probability of a rich experience is increased when you leave the bubble.

Life is random , determined by the cooperative trillion neurons in our heads. Each experience is vacillating based on random decisions. When we have a collective experience, these can define memories that we share. As they begin to fade we add color and change details duping us not knowing that it really did not happen that way. This is the nature of the mind.

Your subconscious is protecting your decisions based on million years of evolution. Interaction with humans is limited and sitting on the couch with your potato chips is “safe”. Of course you could argue that 200 channels of cable is rich in content. It is not germane because it is not experience; it is the past captured with predictable out comes.

Richness of random hypothesis is true based on the example of our last minute decision to go “down town”. Even though the decision was made, preparation dominates our mind hoping to increase likelihood. The subconscious is working with memory to evaluate the probability of consequence to create the memory. Lush or grey you increased the probability of experience of your random existence.

It is better to surround yourself with trillions of neurons that increase those random interactions then to let you subconscious trick your animation. As probabilities would show and experience has proven, the return to the bubble with a smile and memory “wow that was fun” was just random. However you accomplished two, increased your probability of random richness and break the cycle of routine existence. Your mind will thank you later. It’s called happiness.

Why has the Secular movement increased in popularity and visibility in the past few years? One might attribute it to the vocal and successful writers who have broken from silence and are now expressing outrage of the perceived miss guided doctrines.

One could surmise that the Secular movement is the normal social and humanistic change occurring as the world views the historical and current affairs of belief systems.

However, this consideration must have it’s roots in more basic understanding. Could it be that the new generation sees a world based on ideology, greed, wealth, and dishonesty as one that should be abandoned or replaced. This new generation has a greater insight then we give credit.

Social decline in the family is at an all time high in western society. The role models of today in both family, friends, and religious circles have lost their true meaning for the next generation.

Role models appear to provide a normal oral foundation to the new generation but lack the “do what you say.” A role model cannot say one thing and act another. Telling your children or friends to stop behaving badly while you behave badly does not glow true. Giving up on relationships and then lecturing others on theirs does not gather much truth. Providing a foundation by lecture and historical doctrine should be replaced by ones action. Who are the role models? Do you act as you preach?

Open up any global newspapers and the headlines are the same. It dominates the conscious of humankind. Some say it is religious radicals, others say it is desperation expressed in death and destruction of human life. The moderate role models sit on the side line expressing disbelief. The carnage continues and the misguided beliefs grow stronger for some and disgust others.

The new generation continues to search for those that will lead humanity to a path of acceptance and truth. Since there is no clear path, young people are shedding the state of religious fever. The result is the increase in Secular momentum. Even the Pope finally recognizes the change in young peoples attitude and the momentum that is occurring. Less dogma and more doing. Accept people for who they are. People are looking for a new order not of blind belief but of sound judgement of choice.

This realization is not from oral dissertations or moral brainwashing but in the observation of behavior in those that young people look up too. If you don’t present the world as it is with all of its imperfections then young people will know you are lying. Yes, we are all imperfect, but guess what, young people can tell the difference in truth, lies, and myth. However, they will find their way and lead humanity to a better tomorrow, dispite the lost role models.

Contemplating kids and becoming a parent? What is the secret antidote when they arrive. From complete dependence to yearning for life, children create a special sense of surprise. Whether sharing tenderness, love, sorrow, or pride the spirt of knowing the bond cannot be denied. We feel a suspicion and anticipation of the faculty and artistry of their mind. Yes they will be great or at least gifted we pledge. Of course the debate on the means of practice to proficiency in parenting is deliberated. Logic seems to be the best orientation but then attitude can be the best prescription. To think that fathers and mothers have the insight of the task of parenthood is like riding Space Mountain at Disney World. Hold on to your seat, even if it is your fourth time. I have never experienced such tortuous revelation of realism during 25 years of being a father. But what a ride and would not miss it for the world!

So the truth, “a mind is a terrible thing to waste” should be your wisdom to the mastery of parenthood. Certainly formulating your ideas to serve as examples of thought may be intuitive, however, all children should have all hypothesis presented. Do not be afraid. Their minds maybe an empty canvas, however the painting has already been painted. It is the time to fill in the colors representing the beauty of your influence. Children are not you. They are someone who are and will become. Do not leave out colors that may bring out the potential of their visualization of life. Let their shades and tones make them someone, even if you are tortured by Picasso. Follow your instincts for their protection but allow color-chrome for liberation. They really will surprise you. Trust the method.

Parenthood is a long journey but intersects moments as a passing breeze. Randomness as we execute plans can only provide direction. Bring all your senses to bear to forge those memory’s for later. When children are gone, pictures are hung, movies are played, or brief phone call, reminds you that your job is done. Your painting is complete and secured in the consciousness to be extracted through the heart.

You miss them, but pride of what they have become with little obstruction is the best of life. They are unique and not you, but even better. Well done artist!

What busy lives we lead. Wake up in the morning for another day at work; routine pretty much the same. Days, weeks, and months fly by. Can you believe it is already 2013? What you are reading is already hours, days, and weeks old.

Mankind is riding in a conscious time machine called the Titanic. We are speeding along while we admire ourselves and advance the human race. Industrial revolution, space travel, modern medical miracles, what could be better. With a life span of 80-90 years some struggle while others are comfortable with the day to day existence, all in a conscious moment. But who is the captain of this ship? Who is watching our course and alerting us of danger? That captain is asleep and it may be too late to wake him. Our ship has been speeding along for millions of years much on autopilot. Humans may sink it after 200,000 years.

Approximately 3 billion years ago, life was created. 200,000 years ago, humans appeared. A major event occurred about 12,000 years ago, the end of the ice age. Civilization began and flourished. Another human milestone was 300 years ago when the industrial revolution began. Mankind’s technology accelerated at great speed with the captain’s order, “full speed ahead”.

The earth was formed 4.5 billion years ago in which a ozone layer was created in the atmosphere. This layer protected life to make it possible for mankind’s creation. As more countries began to use machines and technology CFC’s and hydrocarbons began to destroy the ozone layer. Yes our scientists alerted us of the danger. Politicians asked for more studies. It is ironic that man through intellectual development has created technology that could be catastrophic to our planet. Not the first time. However, is this part of the evolution cycle?

Human’s intellect must overcome our primitive conscious desires; a captain must emerge in this every day ocean of existence. People, governments, science and technology must be understood and its limitations acknowledged. It is important we realize evolution is a process over millions of years not to be destroyed in 300 years. The destruction of the ozone is an iceberg and no one sees it on the Titanic. Alarms are going off but being ignored. We are comfortable with our everyday existence but asleep at the bridge.

Humans sit at the top of the food chain but through misguided beliefs, arrogance, and lack of understanding of science and technology, risks destruction of the human experience. So how do we snap out of our conscious malaise? Is human evolution at a dead end?

You look to the skies and see a lot of stars, right? But how big do you think the universe is? Scientists would probably give you answers in 100 trillions of light years. Since the universe is expanding at something like 50 to 100 kilometers/sec/Megaparsec, the answer would change. Maybe we should think of size in terms of galaxies, stars, and planets.

For now, to avoid our heads from hurting while using our calculators trying to convert kilometers and megaparsec, taking in small facts at a time seems sensible. Especially since we are anthropic, or human-centric and think in thousands of years or 4.5 billion, the age of our earth.

Let’s start with our Milky Way galaxy. Our solar system is part of the galaxy, which has a star or our sun and a few plants revolving around it. Our galaxy has four hundred billion stars and it would take a hundred thousand years to cross it at the speed of light. There are probably 500 billion plants around the stars. Do the math. It’s a lot of stars and planets.

Now that we have acquired our orientation, let me share with you a recent observation from the Hubble telescope. NASA decided to see if they could observe a square of sky (above illustration, XDF square next to the moon) by taking pictures over several years. This would provide a field of light from deep space that we were not able to see without this eXtreme Deep Field or XDF study. The universe is 13.7 billion years old and the XDF galaxies observed were some of the youngest galaxies, some 13.2 billion years old. The light is just reaching the earth now. There are 5,500 galaxies in just this patch of sky alone! How many galaxies would then be in the universe? How many stars? How many planets, just like earth? The picture below is what was observed in the XDF square in deep space.

So when you look into the sky at night and see the observable landscape of our universe, this is the same sky that our ancestors observed over thousands or millions of years. But their view was limited. With the advancement of science, we are seeing stars and galaxies which have never been seen before. This is the history of the universe as if we dug up a dinosaur bone. Think about the possibilities. Not just what is on the earth, but what is on the quintillions of earths yet to be discovered. Sounds like a Star Trek episode.

So what is next in our collection of technology for observing the universe? Look forward to the James Webb Space telescope. The Hubble telescope is only a baby compared to the James Webb Space telescope. We will stretch our vision even further into the vast universe past our home and into the history of our beginnings. Exciting discoveries ahead if you are interested in your neighbors.

There was once an idea. The idea became a theory. Men of Physics pursued a particle for evidence of the forces of nature. Would there be electrons and protons or quarks or photons? It is hard to wrap your mind around Theoretical Physics much less the significance of the Higgs boson discovery. One thing is for sure, man’s understanding of the fundamental forces of the universe just reached another milestone. The excitement is not just the discovery but sharing this momentous occasion in your lifetime.

Clearly, mankind has come together in a global effort both in intellect and resources to achieve this brilliant human advancement in science. Several years and $10 billion dollars later more than 3,000 scientists at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at CERN in Geneva, Switzerland provided evidence of the Higgs boson. The idea began in the 1960’s by the British physicist Peter Higgs but required the largest scientific project ever constructed to solve the mystery that was beyond human understanding.

Higgs theory was that the universe has subatomic particles one of which provided a kind of energy field that gives matter its mass.

Since the Higgs boson was incredibly difficult to detect, the LHC was constructed to smash protons together to detect its fleeting presence. So after 800 trillion collisions, measurements of billion electron volts and “five sigma” standard for physics discovery, a new particle theory emerges.

“The Higgs mechanism is the thing that allows us to understand how the particles acquire mass,” said Joao Guimaraes da Costa, a physicist at Harvard University who is the Standard Model Convener at the LHC. “If there was no such mechanism, then everything would be massless.”

On July 4, 2012, Rolf Heuer, CERN director said “We have reached a milestone in our understanding of nature….. The discovery of a particle consistent with the Higgs boson opens the way to more detailed studies, requiring larger statistics, which will pin down the new particle’s properties, and is likely to shed light on other mysteries of our universe.”

Paul Nurse, president of Britain’s science academy The Royal Society, said: “This is a big day for science and for human achievement … Today moves us a step closer to a fuller understanding of the very stuff of which the universe is made.”

Prof Stephen Hawking told the BBC News, “This is an important result and should earn Peter Higgs the Nobel Prize.”

So not just congratulations to the scientist’s involved but to mankind for showing that nations can come together with imagination and determination to advance our understanding of the universe.

The world today is showing greater polarization of views. However if you decompose today’s news there is clear evidence that the human race is redefining its legacy. The liberation from the dogma imposed over thousands of years by a set of political, social, or religious beliefs is clearly defined as a human marker.

Many have seen there is evidence man can make decisions and show emergence by rational or critical thinking. Rational thinking is clear and sensible thinking based on reason, logic and evidence as opposed to being governed.

The acrimonious conflict in human history has always centered on lack of free choice of mind. Those victims who craved for evidence and discovery were discriminated by preformed opinion, insufficient knowledge and irrational emotions. Ingredient’s of an intoxicating potion.

Millions of years of development are producing minds that are clear and sensible unimpaired by this brew. This is called rational thinking. Newton and Einstein demonstrated rational thinking that forever changed mankind. Those who had unfounded dislike of Newton’s theories were handicapped by the drunken dogma. Those that expanded the theories changed the world. Only a few have taken the antidote.

So today, it is not surprising this dogma remains strong as demonstrated by the reemergence of political stalemate and man’s continued struggle for personal freedom of thought. We unite in our disillusion of the political process only to stagger away after taking another drink. For that one moment of clarity, it could be game changer. It is not to be. We accept the traditional socially imposed constraints and prejudice of our thinking, the irony, we then turn around and criticize those with the same affliction.

However we cannot escape from our fate. Nature will not allow our short existence to define the future. As the world becomes one, mixing ideologies will have a low percentage of reality measured by probability and outcome unless we embrace rational thought. Man’s continued maturity in critical thinking will develop greater perception of his truths as opposed to being governed solely by historical contracts.

We are accelerating down the human timeline and we should remove the barriers not as a destruction of ones beliefs but as liberation to see what could be, rather what has always been. Yes liberation has begun. Don’t be afraid of searching for truth by challenging historical thinking even if you drank the potion.

Yes, man is a beast. It is across cultures and moral landscapes but plays out mostly in main stream world media. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s display of brain cupidity is one of much personal privacy highlighted by dissection. From politicians like John Kennedy, Bill Clinton, Francois Mitterrand, Mark Sanford, Elliot Spitzer, and John Edwards some might think this is declining morality. Nope, this has been going on for years and in fact, Muslims believe polygamy really prevents “infidelity”. Some may say with power and money man may believe he is sanctioned and the women drawn to fame and fortune. Unfortunately it is not so, look at your next door neighbors. It is nature.
The real truth of this display of aggressive sexual tendencies can be found in the human condition, the brain. Helen Fisher, a researcher at Rutgers University, “Wonderful though it is, romantic love is unstable…” “You can feel deep attachment for a long-term spouse, while you feel romantic love for someone else, while you feel the sex drive in situations unrelated to either partner. This independence means it is possible to love more than one person at a time, a situation that leads to jealousy, adultery and divorce.”
So what is behind this risk taking that can take a Dr. Jekyll and make him a Mr. Hyde? Over millions of years the survival of man depended on food, water, and sex. The brain developed reward systems to make sure man preserved evolution success. These reward systems developed receptors for oxytocin and vasopressin in brain regions to reinforce vital behavior. Dopamine is released during sexual activity which causes the release of oxytocin and vasopressin. All of this makes you feel good, the hormone sex cocktail.

Helen Fisher discusses many of the feelings of intense romantic love, saying it begins as the beloved takes on “special meaning.” Then you focus intensely on him or her. People can list the things they dislike about a sweetheart, but they sweep these things aside [as well as family and friends] and focus on what they adore. Intense energy, elation, mood swings, emotional dependence, separation anxiety, possessiveness, physical reactions including a pounding heart and shortness of breath, and craving, Fisher reports, are all central to this feeling. But most important is obsessive thinking. As Fisher says “Someone is camping in your head.”

“Camping in your head” or is the part of the brain responsible for reasoning which becomes overwhelmed by evolution reward system? Let me think, reasoning developed over thousands of years and evolution reward system over millions of years. Reasoning does not have a chance. However, for the success of survival of mankind, a significant influence will be the continued development of love and respect while understanding our limitations. To control this mental capacity, we must concentrate on consequences before reward certainly very difficult when hormones are running a muck. I guess the simple solution is, keep it in your pants dude and ladies before hormones take over the harmonious bond you professed to your partner. Not an easy task.

Astronomers across the globe can now look through hundreds of millions of galaxies, stars and asteroids collected in the first bundle of data from the WISE mission.

December 14, 2009, WISE was launched into space to map the entire sky in infrared light. WISE took more than 2.7 million images during its mission.

WISE discovered 20 comets, more than 33,000 asteroids between Mars and Jupiter, and 133 near-Earth objects (NEOs), which are those asteroids and comets with orbits that come within 28 million miles of Earth’s path around the sun. The satellite went into hibernation in early February of this year.